


what she said to me under the lamplight

by redbirb



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: A Little Tipsy AU, AUideas Advent Calendar, AUideas Advent Calendar 2018, Day 6, December prompt, F/M, Mild Language, Modern AU, Underage Drinking, a little swearing, mentions of bullying, there's an f bomb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 14:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18368312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbirb/pseuds/redbirb
Summary: He’s surprised at the coherency of that sentence… and dubious of its meaning. So he has a crush, okay? Shireen is sweet and kinder than most girls he knows (side-eyeing Arya and Sansa will get you nowhere little brother Stark) and although she nags his poor choices sometimes he can’t be angry at the concern when it makes him feel wanted the way it does. This meek girl, smart and a lover of books, is far too good for someone like him, far too good for the hurtful words he’s heard sneered about her by classmates when they think no one is listening.





	what she said to me under the lamplight

**Author's Note:**

> An old short fic I wrote for AUIdeas yearly prompt Advent Calender event.
> 
> You can find the prompt here : http://auideas.tumblr.com/post/168469374976/aac-2k17-december-11th
> 
> This was also posted on my GOT/ASOIAF tumblr found @ greyjoysexual : http://greyjoysexual.tumblr.com/post/168473101325/what-she-said-to-me-under-the-lamplight

This was a horrible idea. Rickon decided to go along with it anyway.

He knows Shireen because her uncle and his father were bestfriends as kids and they’ve been paired together a lot during family get-togethers being on the younger side of the merging groups. They’ve grown closer over the years, her first friend once she transferred to his school and she’s seen him through some nasty shit he doesn’t want to talk about.

She trusts him, she has to, or else she wouldn't have asked him to do this. Rickon was a semi-experienced drinker since they entered highschool and he’d called Shireen a number of times to come bail him out of sticky situations (one DUI and a tongue lashing from both of his parents was enough, thank you). So when she expressed interest in wanting to know what kind of drunk she’d be, Rickon suggested the two of them hang out over the weekend and test it out. And that is how he finds himself sitting in the basement of his home (everyone else is out tonight for one reason or another so he can house and babysit her at the same time) while nursing a soda and watching Shireen babble about Shakespeare and Beckett.

“Don’t fall over,” he snorts when she tips to the right a little dangerously on the couch.

“M'sorry,” her mumbling is barely distinguishable between noises and words. She manages to sit back up straighter without his help or further prompting.

It’s cute, her constant eyelash fluttering and delicate way she holds the cold beer inbetween her hands. There’s a soft quirk to her lips as she talks, each word spoken with a quiet intensity he’s never seen from her before. The lamp behind her is giving Shireen a halo effect, like an angel, like someone out of his league… and at this point Rickon knows he’s fucked.

“You’re cute when you’re drunk,” he says, watching her throat swallow the next gulp of alcohol.

If she’s flushing from actual emotion or inebriation is hard to determine, but her face is a rush of red across her cheeks and nose. It calls attention to the dark brown of her eyes, hazy gaze locked on Rickon as if he is the only thing in the room worthy of seeing. Admittedly her attention has always made him feel inexplicably good (you know why, Rickon, you just won’t admit it, not yet).

“I think y-you’re cute.”

He’s surprised at the coherency of that sentence… and dubious of its meaning. So he has a crush, okay? Shireen is sweet and kinder than most girls he knows (side-eyeing Arya and Sansa will get you nowhere little brother Stark) and although she nags his poor choices sometimes he can’t be angry at the concern when it makes him feel wanted the way it does. This meek girl, smart and a lover of books, is far too good for someone like him, far too good for the hurtful words he’s heard sneered about her by classmates when they think no one is listening.

“Rick.”

The call of his name brings him back to himself, he didn’t realize he’d been lost in thought. Shireen is closer now, beer can held tightly enough to dent the flimsy aluminum, stretched forward on her knees to splay halfway across the couch to where he is sitting by the opposite armrest. He swallows hard, face heating into the mimicry of a blazing furnace and he can’t remember how to do anything but stare.

She’s leaning even closer, eyes locked on his own until they flicker down somewhere around his chin. He wants to move, wants to do… something. Kiss her, probably. He shouldn’t, she’s drunk, he’s sober, they’re friends, this could spell disaster.

“I have a secret,” she whispers. Rickon can only nod, watching her, heart pounding loud enough to almost drown out her next words. “I like you. A lot.”

He’s feeling a little floaty and he doesn’t realize he’s tipping forward until their lips are almost touching and, in shock at his own actions, reacts by jerked to the side so violently to avoid contact that he goes sprawling on the ground. His soda spills in a great big mess, his hip hitting the floor hard enough to leave an ache and he’s choking on air because what the fuck?

“Oh!”

“I’m okay,” he assures her on habit. Rickon clears his throat as he sits up, frowning down at the soaked part of his left pant leg. “I’ll clean it, uh, up later. Don’t worry about it.” When he looks up, Shireen is pouting. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. I just told you - ”

“You don’t like me.”

A pause because, oh boy, he’s about to do this, isn’t he? “I do. I like you. I like you… a lot. But I can’t kiss you if you’re drunk.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he sighs and gets up, shaking off the pain and former shock,“ that would be taking advantage of you… and I rather kiss you when I can guarantee you’ll remember it.”

Shireen’s still halo’d by the lamp at this angle. Rickon is stepping forward, more aware of each movement now, and cups the side of her face in a palm, thumb brushing over the lines of her scarred cheek. She’s beautiful, he’s always known that. He wants her in more ways than one, he’s learned that.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay,” she smiles up at him in a way that makes him feel like the center of the world,“ kiss me tomorrow.”

“You’ll be hung over tomorrow,” he laughs.

“Kiss me anyway.”

She’s oddly forward as a drunk. “Okay. I’ll kiss you tomorrow.”

“Can I have more beer?”

“I think we’ll call it for tonight,” he huffs in amusement and takes the half-empty can away. He’s got a little under half a pack of silver, empty cans to clean up and the mess he’s made… and change into new pants. “Want to watch a movie with me?”

“Disney!”

He rolls his eyes, she always makes him watch the newest film, even if he never shuts up throughout it. “Sure. I’ll pop one in. I think Sansa left one in the DVD player.”

He turns to get everything set up when,“ Rickon?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think I’m ugly?”

 

Rickon turns back to her without hesitation to kiss her forehead. “Never.”

They end up watching Moana and Snow White, Shireen falling asleep with her head on his shoulder and Rickon can’t bring himself to move. He thinks about forgetting tonight, she won’t remember the end of it anyway.

He sighs as Shaggydog comes shambling down the basement steps to see what the two of them are up to. “What in the seven hells am I gonna do now?”

Shaggydog sits on his feet and gives a great big huff. Whatever answer the giant dog gives, Rickon can’t decipher it. Oh well, he’ll probably suck it up and cave in tomorrow to see what’ll happen. Who knows, maybe Shireen will be his girlfriend.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm mostly active on my other tumblr account @ rainbowredrobin! But feel free to try and contact me on either of my tumblrs :D


End file.
